Hoekstra, whose poems, performances, songs, and stories, have crisscrossed the globe in publications and playlists, stages and setlists, as well as his eight CDs and three books earning Independent Publisher Award, Pushcart Prize, Nashville Music Award, and Independent Music Award nominations, is national treasure waiting to go global.
Musically, the songs on
The Day Deserved are diverse and deviate far from the typical singer-songwriter fare, with a nod to the likes of
Cohen, Velvets, Kinks, and other folks Hoekstra tends to get compared to.
On the topic of Hoekstra's lack of musical output over the last decade-plus, he said:
"Basically, after all the creative activity mentioned above, I spent the past decade stepping away from music to raise my son, work non-profit, teach, and do some prose writing.
"He's older now and a couple years ago, I was inspired by the influx of free time, things in our country I wanted to write about, and things I wanted to say musically, different than I had in the past.
"As my liner note says, ''this is a record intended to be a marker of the times, disenfranchised characters inhabiting the tunes, pressing on through barriers and breaks fostered by their surroundings.
"Often, they travel a circuitous route, reflected in music that mirrors their path to self-determination, authenticity, happiness.
"Sometimes the fruits of this journey are reflected in something as simple as a better day, their day, the day deserved.' Hope you enjoy and can find yourself between the notes."
All were fully demoed to explore arrangement ideas, but flowed from core band sessions, coalescing into a mix of the tight and the orchestral, reflecting rock, folk, and reggae touches, colors of everything from gypsy fiddle ("Seaside Town" a tale of a disenfranchised artist) to reggae roots melodica ("Carry Me," an ode to fatherhood and connectedness).
Lyrically the tunes are character based, but reflective of the day and the times.
Other highlights include the expansive build of "Higher Ground" (haunting guitars underscoring the viewpoint of an elderly man seeing his homeland disappear), the soul-inspired "Wintertime,"(layers of history, race, and music), the cello-driven "Unseen Undetected" (alternate tales of an immigrant and an intolerant, both heretofore hidden), and the funky noir fight the power groove of "Gandy Dancer" with its playful round robin vocals and honking saxophone.
The album was recorded at Howard's Apartment Studio in Nashville, co-producing with proprietor Dave Coleman.
Doug's new book,
Ten Seconds In-Between, is divided into four sections;
Out of Time, Pieces of Time, Time Found, and Time Lost, but a key line in one of the stories unlocks the key:
"You remember reading somewhere that psychologists say when people meet, they decide within 7 and 17 seconds whether or not they will like each other. You wonder about the 10 seconds in-between."
Doug Hoekstra's 'The Day Deserved' is out now, and new short story collection 'Ten Seconds In-Between' (Better than Starbucks press) is also available. For updates on both projects and all the latest Hoekstra news CLICK HERE